Community Tasting Notes 30

• Dibbs Likes this wine: 94 points

  November 27, 2023 - Probably the best Valpo from Dal Forno tasted in recent memory. Took about an hour to open up in the glass. Such fantastic persistence and youth are shown on the palate without being overripe. The Amarone takes about 30 years to come around but the Valpo is ready by 15-17 years and way cheaper. Get as much as you want of these because it still have at least 10 years left.

  Comments (2)

• hsacks Likes this wine: 91 points

  January 7, 2023 - Medium red color. Aromas of black cherry kirsch, licorice and prune. Fully integrated medium-bodied fruit in the mouth with very ggod depth and length. Silky but a little tired on the palate. While enjoyable, bottle was clearly on the downside of its peak drinking period. Drink up!

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• oakville72 Likes this wine: 91 points

  October 30, 2022 - (NOTE: The wine I tasted does not indicate Vigneto di Monte Lodoletta on the bottle.) Typical Dal Forno, deep, brooding and well oaked. Beginning to show its age, and it's drying out a bit. Drinkable now and for another few years.

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• forceberry wrote: 92 points

  May 6, 2022 - Typically a blend of Corvina (70%), Rondinella (20%), Croatina (5%) and Oseleta (5%). Although the wine is labeled as "Valpolicella Superiore", it's vinified almost like an Amarone: the grapes are dried in a ventilated room for 1,5 months following the harvest. After the grapes have been raisinated, the wine is fermented and macerated in stainless steel for two weeks. Aged in new oak barriques for 24 months, after the wine is filtered and bottled. The wine is not released before aging in bottles for a minimum of three years. 14,5% alcohol. Tasted blind.
  
  Rather deep and quite opaque cherry-red color with an evolved maroon hue. The nose feels dense, ripe and sweet-toned with fragrant aromas of boysenberries and cherry marmalade, some ripe plummy tones, a little bit of raisiny dark fruit, light oaky nuances of savory wood spice and cacao, a balsamic hint of VA and a touch of old leather. The wine is ripe, quite concentrated and textural on the palate with a full body and subtly sweetish flavors of cherry marmalade and bilberry, some boysenberry tones, a little bit of sour cherry bitterness, light woody notes of savory oak spice and cacao nibs, a hint of pruney dark fruit and a balsamic touch of VA. The overall feel is quite muscular and structured, thanks to the high acidity and quite ample tannins that contribute both to the dense texture and moderately grippy structure of the wine. The finish is rich, textural and moderately grippy with bold flavors of cherry marmalade, savory wood spice, some pruney tones, a little bit of sweet bilberry, light balsamic notes of VA, a hint of sour cherry bitterness and a touch of exotic spices.
  
  Other people guessed Californian Merlot, Australian Shiraz and other new world wines, whereas I immediately thought that this tasted like Amarone - probably 15-20 years old - and guessed accordingly. I was told it was close enough to be correct, but when prompted to guess the producer, I never thought of Dal Forno. This is because all the Dal Forno wines I've tasted (that have been noticeably younger) have been so heavily oaky that I never thought the oak influence would subside so quickly. I have been told the wines are completely different after 20-25 years of aging, and now that I've tasted one, I must say that it really seems to be the case: although the oak influence still lingers there, this doesn't taste like a concentrated milkshake of dark chocolate and toasted oak spice, but instead a surprisingly refined wine that has those balsamic and dried-fruit characteristics typical of Amarone, but enough sense of finesse and balance to come across as fine wine, not an over-oaked blockbuster. I'm positively surprised. Although I'm not fully convinced if the wine is actually worth the price (75€), this is nevertheless probably the best Dal Forno wine I've tasted.

  1 person found this helpful Comment

• canan wrote: 91 points

  November 18, 2021 - Dal Forno Valpolicella Vertical (Nemogaarden): Elegant cherry fruit with a decent depth but it seems very much off balance. The alcohol is dominating and there is not a lot of joy for me in drinking this.

  1 person found this helpful Comment

Pro Reviews 1

Wine Definition

• Vintage 1999
• Type Red
• Producer Romano Dal Forno
• Varietal Corvina Blend
• Designation n/a
• Vineyard Vigneto di Monte Lodoletta
• Country Italy
• Region Veneto
• SubRegion Valpolicella
• Appellation Valpolicella Superiore
• UPC Code 8033087240276

Community Holdings

• Pending Delivery 0 (0%)
• In Cellars 291 (61%)
• Consumed 184 (39%)

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